cruise and stay

[bonniecharlie]

would like to do a cruise and stay holiday either here in europe or florida

but dont know which cruise line does these sort of holidays, but I'm sure someone out there does so any information will be welcome

[sail7seas]

Not sure what you mean by cruise and stay.

 

We always fly to embarkation port days ahead of the date of the cruise and stay a few days before and then again after the cruise. Somehow I don't think that is what you mean??

 

[JanineM]

Disney offers cruise and vacation offers in Florida. You could certainly fly in early or stay longer if you wanted to spend more time in Florida. Disney is expanding to the west coast of the US and Europe next year, so check their website to see if they will have similar offerings elsewhere.

[paul929207]

Princess offers land tours before and after some of their European cruises

[sandian]

Thomson do Cruise and Stay in Europe and the Carribean. They also do all inclusive on some ships or you can book a drinks package.

 

We went with them for our first Cruise and it was wonderful, the ships are not new but well maintained. The food and entertainment was first class, unfortunately I have heard lately that there prices are high dont know how true this is.

 

The carribean Cruise and Stay was fabulous we loved it. Any questions please ask.

[jocap]

We do stay and cruise with Thomson's at the Red Sea, Egypt, in winter....or you can do cruise/stay. One good point is that your whole package is with them, including their own planes, so they can quote a full package rate. The hotels they use in Sharm el Sheikh are all 4 or 5*, and are scrupulously clean and luxurious. The coral reef comes right up to the beach. Tips are included in the cruise. They were flying from virtually every airport in the UK last winter.

Jo.

[uppitycats]

would like to do a cruise and stay holiday either here in europe or florida

but dont know which cruise line does these sort of holidays, but I'm sure someone out there does so any information will be welcome

 

Can you explain more what you mean?

 

We cruised up the coast of Norway earlier this year, got off the ship in Oslo, and stayed a week in Oslo..but the stay wasn't arranged through the cruise line. We made arrangements ourselves, with the help of a travel agent. Next year we hope to fly to England, spend a week there, and then board a ship for another cruise - -but again, not arranged through the cruise line.

[Treven]

When I'm doing a round trip cruise out of FLL, I often do a couple days before the cruise and two or three days after the cruise. Both times are set up by myself and doesn't involve the cruiseline; I simply decide which hotel I want to stay in, or what part of the city I want to stay in, and make my reservation with that hotel.

[globalwife]

Pullmantur offers these packages if you don't mind going on a Spanish line.

[chasetf]

would like to do a cruise and stay holiday either here in europe or florida

but dont know which cruise line does these sort of holidays, but I'm sure someone out there does so any information will be welcome

We always make our own arrangements. We find the cruise lines hotel costs generally are more expensive and less choices.

 

We also like making our own tour arrangements. Many cities now have the hop on hop off buses which are a convenient way to get from site to site spending as much time as you desire instead of a set scheduled bus or van tour.

[John Bull]

Just to explain to US cruisers, "cruise&stay" is a cruiseline-organised package of flights/cruise/land-based vacation/transfers - usually a 7 day cruise & 7 days hotel in the cruiseship's turnaround resort.

 

Best-known for cruise&stay is Thomson, because they are a major T/A as well as cruise operator. The option is offered on a large proportion of their cruises. Ocean Village do likewise, but this summer is their last season. There are others, such as Disney.

 

If you don't find a cruise&stay package that you like, you can book all elements seperately. This way you can tailor to the cruise line, itinerary, hotel and timetable to suit yourself, but the ready-made package has a couple of major advantages:

 

You are unlikely to be able to put together a Caribbean or Red Sea holiday for the same sort of money as Thomson offer, because they charter aircraft, block-book hotels, and use coaches for bulk transfers. But because of no-frills airlines and fierce competition between cruiselines, you can get competetive prices to create your own package based on a lot of Mediterranean ports, such as Barcelona or Rome or Venice, or Florida based on Orlando/Port Canaveral or Miami/Fort Lauderdale. (beware. Orlando to Miami is about 240 miles!).

If you put together your own package, alway, but always, fly out a day early - or take the land part first, followed by the cruise.

 

Because all elements of cruise&stay are part of a package, if there's a problem with one part of the package which affects the rest of the package, its their problem & not yours. So, for example, you don't have to worry about a flight delay.

 

And of course, its a great deal less work & grief to book a package.

 

But Thomson packages are not flexible, you can't choose to stay at a different hotel even if it's in their land-holiday brochure, and you can't fix your own hotel & use their flights.

 

Cruise&stay is a great introduction to cruising. For ideal weather, choose the Med in the summer, the Caribbean in the winter.

I'd be inclined to avoid a stay in Dom Rep (nothing much of interest outside the resort-hotels) or Jamaica (crime is a worry).

The Red Sea (winter) isn't a mainstream holiday - the ports are industrial, the cruise itinerary is very much for the historic sights, there are no pukka "resorts" other than Sharm el Sheik (where the land-based part of your package will be) - a great holiday, but only if that's your scene.

 

John Bull